  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 06/01/2014 PreS-Gr 1—Much like cats, young children can be quite persnickety about whom they embrace and when. Not so with this story's protagonist, aka the Hug Machine. This boy takes it upon himself to calm and cheer everyone, and everything (rocks, trees), he encounters with a warm hug. He takes his work quite seriously and no challenge is too tough (a porcupine) or large (a whale) for him to wrap his arms around. It's a big, important job that requires frequent refueling (pizza) to keep his "hugging energy high," but he's up to the task. Finally, when he's about to collapse from exhaustion, he acquiesces to his mom's request and lets her hold the Hug Machine in her arms. Campbell's stylized watercolor cartoon art is the perfect foil for the straightforward text. The humor is deadpan and the illustrations, though quirky, are enormously appealing. The diminutive boy is depicted with large eyes and extra-long arms, so he's well prepared for his chosen mission. Absolutely irresistible.—Luann Toth, School Library Journal - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 07/01/2014 From the title page, where the tiny hug machine boosts his biceps for a long day of hugging, to the exuberant tirelessness with which he dispenses embraces, this noodle-armed little boy who loves hugs is irrepressibly charming. Campbell’s big-eyed, overall-sporting toddler in red boots will hug anything, and he is the best: No one can resist my unbelievable hugging. Grumpy neighbors, sad babies, mailboxes, trees, snakes, a giant whale, and even a porcupine are no match for the hug machine, particularly after he is refueled by pizza. In cartoony watercolors in muted, pinky tones on open white backgrounds, Campbell depicts the boy, who clearly takes hugging very seriously, clasping his long arms around bewildered, deadpan passersby until he collapses from exhaustion and receives a warm hug from his own mom. Though parents will likely want to dissuade their little ones from hugging total strangers—let alone a porcupine or bear—it’s a silly concept delightfully rendered, and the hug machine’s enthusiasm for friendliness is hard not to love. - Copyright 2014 Booklist. Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2014 What, you may ask, precisely is a Hug Machine? It’s a little boy with a propensity for loving squeezes whose hugs are good enough to stop crying babies and make small turtles feel big inside. No one is too spiky or huge for a Hug from the Hug Machine, not even a porcupine or a whale. There’s a matter-of-fact glee in this picture book that keeps it silly and sweet but never saccharine (“People often ask what the Hug Machine eats to keep the hugging energy high. Well, the answer is pizza”), and the gentle but insistent repetition and theatrical beat give it a playful rhythm. Watercolor illustrations on textured paper feature our Peanuts-headed protagonist in suspenders and big red boots against a warm, earthy palette heightened by extensive use of pink, particularly for backgrounds. The cloudiness of the medium, the thick and bumpy outlining, and an exaggerated roundness of features ramp up the coziness, but the use of perspective and close-ups, as in a spread where the Hug Machine comes right for the audience, helps keep things from getting too treacly. Whether for bedtime or storytime, affectionate kids and adults will thoroughly embrace (ahem) this fuzzy and goofy paean to cuddling. TA - Copyright 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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